Another "Feast" at Vernon's Cafe in Niles!

Greetings from Catawba Island!

It's Saturday and we just got dumped on. Another 4-6 inches fell over night and I just finished shovelling the driveway. I can't believe it was a week ago that we had the "Feast" at Vernon's Cafe in Niles.

It was Rick and Becky's 25th wedding anniversary and a group of friends (about 20) met at Vernon's for dinner. You may recall from a past post that I really like Vernon's! We ate from 7-11PM! That's right, first the hot peppers and crusty Italian bread, then the clams casino, followed by the bracciole, then the calamari. And that was just the appetisers!

Then a salad, followed by two pasta dishes, one in a red and one in a white sauce, Then chicken franchise, with Italian greens, and finally a steak followed by a tray of desserts, cheese cakes and such with coffee. A meal like that really deserves some good wine, and Vernon's had a nice surprise. They had the 2005 Justin "Orphan" that I wrote about last week from Nashville. Just when I thought that I'd never drink this one again, Dennis ( Vernon's fantastic sommeillier) came up with a couple of bottles. Needless to say it was a hit.

Then it was off to a nice Cabernet, the 2003 Cafaro Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. By the way, no relation to the Cafaro family from that area (although we did toast Capri Cafaro just for fun.)

The garnet colored cab had a nice subtle nose with tart cranberry and red raspberry with a hint of coffee, chocolate and mocha. Nice finish. A 88 pointer and a definite order again. A great evening with friends.

And a side note. Just when I thought I wouldn't get to drink the "Orphan" again, I found a case on Monday and have stashed a few bottles away for when we all are together again.

2003 Tommasi Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico

Greetings from Nashville, Tennessee!

It's my first day in Nashville, still unaware of the blizzard of 2008 that would have our flights to Cleveland canceled for two day. It was bad enough getting here are our flight to Nashville at 6 AM this Wednesday morning was canceled as was the 7:30 and the 9 AM. We finally got a flight, not to Nashville but to Midway in Chicago at 9:30 AM but parked on the tarmac for two hours to de-ice. A two hour layover in Chicago and finally we made it to Nashville. Normally a one hour flight, that day it took 13 hours!

I was anxious to get to Nashville because my son, Mark, was in town. He was leaving for a weekend of shows with Brian Stace in Oklahoma ad were going to have lunch before they hopped on the tour bus and headed for Tulsa. Brian and Mark picked us up at the airport and we had a chance to have a few drinks and get a great dinner offer.

You buy dinner and I'll buy the wine, was my response to an old friend also in town! We made our way to a little restaurant called Sole Mio, The food was great and we had a chance to drink one of my favorites, the 2003 Tommasi Amarone Della Volpolicella Classico (see my review on corkd)

This wonderful amarone from Veneto is a blend of three grape varieties, Corvina Veronese, Rondenella, and Molinara. I rated this gem 92 points. How can you beat that, a wonderful free meal, a great wine, and an opportunity to see my son. Well worth the 13 hour trip!

2004 Gargiulo Vineyards "Aprile" Napa Valley Red Wine

Greetings from Nashville!

Friday night in Nashville, and we're getting ready for the storm that cancelled my flights for Friday and Saturday to Cleveland. This was a perfect time to have a nice dinner with an old Cleveland friend, Joe Carroll and a new one Brian Jennings, the Program Director at Cleveland's WGAR Radio.

Valentino's Ristorante on 1907 West End has always been a favorite. And Friday reminded me why. In addition to a great meal and impeccable service from Lyman Beck, a nice wine recommendation was a big hit.

The 2004 Gargiulo Vineyards Oakville Napa Valley Red was a hit in the style of the Super Tuscan's of the family's native Italy. This Oakville Estate blend of 96% Sangiovese and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes come from a single estate vineyard, the Money Road Ranch. This wine spends 16 months in French Oak and retails for $40 dollars.

This is not a wine for beginners, wimps or folks who can't appreciate a little oak. As a matter of fact on first tasting, I was a bit worried that the Oak Monster had taken over the wine, but decanting and a little time and this gem opened up into a classic. Ruby Red in color this wine features black cherry, raspberry, some currant, a little tobacco and some leather, with a long puckery finish reminiscent of the Super Tuscans. I'd score this 90 points and a tip of the hat to Lyman for the recommendation.

2005 Justin Red Wine "The Orphan"

Greetings from Nashville!

Thursday night and I've been invited to the Big Boys dinner at Morton's Steak House downtown. Matt Corbin from Universal South, along with Jay Bradley, had a few folks to dinner and to hear their new country artist Randy Houser.

A great dinner with seafood and steaks was made special by some great conversation. Matt is a wine fan and really has a passion for finding great wines at reasonable prices, a passion we share.

Matt asked if I had ever tried the Justin Wines, especially their famous Isosceles line of Cabs and blends in the 49 to 100 dollar range? I have, and Justin happens to be one of my favorite wineries from Paso Robles.

Then he asked if I had tried the "Orphan"? I haven't. The Orphan started in 2003 when Justin had a fire at the winery. The fire caused some damage and disarray of barrels in the cellar. As a result they couldn't identify the wine so it was blended into a red dinner wine called, "The Orphan". The price 10 to 16 bucks depending on when and where you bought it. That's right! The same juice as the 100 buck wine at a tenth of the price.

Now I was curious, and Matt made a run to his personal locker at Morton's to retrieve a 2005. Justin has done an Orphan since with the wines left over and not used in the proprietary bottling. The grapes, Cabs, Syrahs, and Merlots, are blended, depending on availability, into that years orphan.

The 2005 was a good one. A smooth Syrah and Cabernet blend, the wine has a nice nose of dark fruit Black Cherry and a bit of chocolate. The tannins pronounced in the mid-pallet, smoothly disappeared into a silky long soft finish. This one is 89 points in my book and for a 16 dollar wine is a home run that makes a QPR (quality, price, ratio) fan take note and stock some away.

Now all I have to do is find some. And of course, Matt wouldn't mind another case for himself. Thanks to Matt and Jay and the folks at Universal South for the dinner and the great wine find.

As for their new artist Randy Houser, a 90+ star in the making! The songs I heard, especially a scorching ballad, blew me away. You'll be hearing his name on the radio in the very near future.

Fake It 'Til You Make It!

Greetings from Catawba Island!

In the recent issue of Forbes Life Magazine (March) an interesting wine article caught my attention. It was based on the old Amway adage, "Fake it 'til you make it". Or act confidently that you know what you are talking about, until you do. I guess a lot of wine snobs fake it but never make it. I thought it would be interesting to share some "fake it" wine moments and then ask for some of yours. If we get a good response, we might make this a series of articles.

One of my favorite "fake it" wine moments is to watch a wine snob ordering wine in a restaurant, and correcting the waiter, waitress, or sommelier, on their technique.

First there's the argument on where to cut the foil? Should it be cut under the lip as a foil cutter would, or under the neck exposing the entire spout, or just cutting off the entire capsule of foil? I've heard this discussed, even argued, in restaurants between snobbish guests and wait staff. The answer is, it doesn't matter, simply get the foil out of the way! I prefer a foil cutter at home and in restaurants removing the entire capsule with a quick slash and then placing the capsule into an apron seems easiest and less conspicuous way.

Then, there's cork. What do you do with the cork? I watch one particularly snobbish professor at a large Midwest University sniff it for what seemed like 10 minutes. What was he doing? How did it smell? I suppose like a cork!

Let's face it, if the wine is tainted or corked, you'll smell that in the wine! What do I do? At home, I quickly dispose of the cork. I never reuse them preferring air tight closures for any left over wine (which rarely happens!). In a restaurant I have been know to play penny football with the person across the table (It's up and it's good!), but just putting it out of the way on the table is probably best.

Next it's the swirl and sample. I've seen this ritual many times. It ranges from the host slugging down the pour and saying something like, "It's good", to the 10 minutes swirl and slosh ending with a comment something like, "The 2005 is drinking very well tonight!" Truthfully, all that the tasting the wine does is assure the wait staff that the wine is not tainted. You can do that by simply smelling the wine. As for tasting, once you accept the wine, you've bought it, so how well it's drinking doesn't concern the waiter one iota.

Finally, the evaluation. "Playfully demure and particularly articulate" is how one of my friends describes every wine he tastes. By the way, he does this jokingly, (He's an expert.) but you would be surprised how many people agree with him!

t's like ordering a Caesar salad and having the waitress ask, "ands what kind of dressing would you like?" "Uhh, I guess Ceasar." Or when the host asks,"Well, Fred, how does the wine taste to you?" Fred replies, "very grapey!" I suppose, if asked, he would describe his steak as "very meaty!" too.

OK, now let's share some of your favorites. Post them here or e-mail them to me at: nick@nickanthony.com

Wine drinking should be FUN, let's share some funny moments.